Owari Precision Products (India), which exports synchroniser rings, will soon begin supplies to a leading transmission manufacturer in Japan. This company, in turn, has the likes of Toyota and Mitsubishi in its customer list. The Bangalore-based Owari is the 100 percent arm of Owari Precise Products of Japan, the world’s second largest synchroniser maker. As for this order, it will supply ‘off tool’ samples of six varieties of synchroniser rings to the Japanese company.
This will involve creation of a new facility close to the existing unit at the Toyota Techno Park in Bidadi. The annual capacity here is one million rings over two shifts. The Rs 30 crore new plant can produce two million rings which will be fully exported to the Japanese customer, said Kunikatsu Tateno, managing director, in an exclusive interview with Autocar Professional. It will be commissioned by the end of 2007, he added.
The parent company in Japan manufactures synchroniser rings and fasteners largely for Toyota group companies. Over 50 percent of its products comprise synchroniser rings while fasteners take up the balance. It also meets the needs of Mazda/Ford, Mitsubishi, Suzuki/GM and some aircraft manufacturers.
Owari Precise Products has a 70-plus percent market share in Japan. It also has joint ventures in Europe and China while its subsidiary in North America produces fasteners. Its Indian arm is the only facility that makes synchroniser rings outside of Japan. Given that the parent company is operating at optimal capacity, it has decided to offload some business to Owari Precision. The latter has been supplying six varieties of synchroniser rings to Toyota Kirloskar Auto Parts and received two special awards — ‘Zero ppm’ and ‘Best Quality’ — from the company for 2005-06.
Tateno said that Owari Precision would eventually become the worldwide hub for select synchronisers. The company plans to increase its manpower to 75 from the present thirty. The employees are multi-skilled and most of them are trained in quality control. Owari Precision has also reduced internal rejections in the forging section to 0.48 percent from 1.3 percent.